For those who have some form of vocal chanting practice, chanting is indeed a powerful spiritual practice. Chanting practices come in all sorts of traditions from the Sufi’s to the Yogi’s and Tantrikas, to the many shamanic tradition. All of these traditions are aware of the inherent power of sound within a chanting practice.
Through the act of creating sound through the voice, chanting literally has the ability to change form – to change reality! Like magic! However there is a full science behind it.
When the voice makes a sound, the sound that is created, creates vibrations. This is not some new age mumbo jumbo I am referring to. It has been verified by science.
Years ago, a scientist by the name of Hans Jenny discovered that by adding sound to a substance – the substance could be silt, or sand, that the act of adding the sound to this substance, the substance itself would magically change form when the sound was switched on. The sand or silt would go from being a pile of sand and would start moving once the sound had started and move into incredible shapes. The shapes weren’t ordinary shapes either. Beautiful geometric and symmetrical shapes were produced.
Jenny’s research and work has been captured and preserved in volumes of videos and photographs in books.
Hans Jenny referred to this effect of sound on matter as “Cymatics”. In recent times other scientists have taken his work forward such as John Reid.
Jenny even used the human voice to observe the effect of the voice on matter. Jenny discovered that a round circle with a dot in the middle would be made with an “oh” sound. Meanwhile a double triangled star would be produced with an “ah” sound.
So the act of chanting with the voice has an inherent power. The use of the voice through chanting does have the potential to create change and transform through the vibrational effects that are produced.
